DelGaldo and D100 petition challenge

[Ted]

Well, it looks like D100's law firm (Delgaldo) may have a connection to Frank Amaro's petition challenge against Elizabeth Jimenez in the D100 school board race.

   Last week, Frank Amaro (who is a Berwyn Park District commissioner) challenged the candidacy of Elizabeth Jimenez, who is running for one of the D100 school board seats.

    I went down to the County Clerk's office to find out who requested copies of the petitions for the D100 school board race and I found that the only other person (besides me) who requested copies of the petitions was a convicted felon named Ric Cervone, who listed the DelGaldo law firm's address as one of the addresses on his petition request.  Cervone asked for copies of the petitions of Darlene Yoder, Elizabeth Jimenez and Timothy McNeilly.  Please note that Cervone did NOT request copies of the petitions of Lisa Clemente, Mark Titzer, Jennifer Mitchell and James Woywad (who are also running for the D100 school board).

  The DelGaldo law firm is the long time law firm for Larry Dominick and the Cicero machine and Delgaldo was hired by District 100 last June to replace the law firm the district had had for 30 years.

I think then the only logical conclusion I can draw is that information that was used in Frank Amaro's challenge against Elizabeth Jimenez was obtained from the petition FOIA by Ric Cervone.  Here is the info from the Clerk's office.  Please note that 1441 Harlem Avenue is the address of the DelGaldo law firm.  Also note that the Melrose Park address has 60402 as the zip code.  That is NOT a typo:

1. Request for copies of the petitions of Darlene Yoder and Elizabeth Jimenez:
Ric Cervone
1441 Harlem Avenue
Berwyn, Illinois 60402
708-372-3700

2; Request for copies of the petitions of Timothy McNeilly:
Guy Ric Cervone
1240 Lee Street
Melrose Park Illinois 60402
708-372-3700

  Here is a link to an article about Cervone:

http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/1-17-2013/River-Forest-state-rep.-Chris-Welch-hires-convicted-felon-for-part_time-office-manager/

[Ted]

  I did a little more research on Frank Amaro's objection to the candidacy of Elizabeth Jimenez.  Amaro (and the people behind Amaro) raised two objections.

  First, that Elizabeth Jimenez did not put her address on the Statement of Economic Interest. Second, that Elizabeth Jimenez did not put the word "Berwyn" as the name of the school district she was running in.  She just put something like "School District 100".

But, I went out to look at the Statement of Economic Interest form on the Cook County website and there is no line for an address.  There is just a line for a name and an office.  Someone told me that if you start typing into the Name field, an address pops up.  But, at least on my computer, I could not type into the name field and I would have had to print out the form and write it in manually.

  Here is a link to the form: http://www.cookcountyclerk.com/elections/DocumentLibrary/BlankSEI.pdf


  Second, there is only one school district in Cook County with 100 as the number.  Therefore, any form filed within Cook County would mean the District 100 in Berwyn.

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

Well, it looks like D100's law firm (Delgaldo) may have a connection to Frank Amaro's petition challenge against Elizabeth Jimenez in the D100 school board race.

   Last week, Frank Amaro (who is a Berwyn Park District commissioner) challenged the candidacy of Elizabeth Jimenez, who is running for one of the D100 school board seats.

    I went down to the County Clerk's office to find out who requested copies of the petitions for the D100 school board race and I found that the only other person (besides me) who requested copies of the petitions was a convicted felon named Ric Cervone, who listed the DelGaldo law firm's address as one of the addresses on his petition request.  Cervone asked for copies of the petitions of Darlene Yoder, Elizabeth Jimenez and Timothy McNeilly.  Please note that Cervone did NOT request copies of the petitions of Lisa Clemente, Mark Titzer, Jennifer Mitchell and James Woywad (who are also running for the D100 school board).

  The DelGaldo law firm is the long time law firm for Larry Dominick and the Cicero machine and Delgaldo was hired by District 100 last June to replace the law firm the district had had for 30 years.

I think then the only logical conclusion I can draw is that information that was used in Frank Amaro's challenge against Elizabeth Jimenez was obtained from the petition FOIA by Ric Cervone.  Here is the info from the Clerk's office.  Please note that 1441 Harlem Avenue is the address of the DelGaldo law firm.  Also note that the Melrose Park address has 60402 as the zip code.  That is NOT a typo:

1. Request for copies of the petitions of Darlene Yoder and Elizabeth Jimenez:
Ric Cervone
1441 Harlem Avenue
Berwyn, Illinois 60402
708-372-3700

2; Request for copies of the petitions of Timothy McNeilly:
Guy Ric Cervone
1240 Lee Street
Melrose Park Illinois 60402
708-372-3700

  Here is a link to an article about Cervone:

http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/1-17-2013/River-Forest-state-rep.-Chris-Welch-hires-convicted-felon-for-part_time-office-manager/

How wonderful that convicted felons get to raise objections for tax paying citizens of our town, Berwyn.

[Ted]

To be clear, the convicted felon (Ric Cervone) did the FOIA request.  It was Frank Amaro who raised the objection.

[OakParkSpartan]

I wish people would remember these shenanigans when elections come around.

[chandasz]

So this is the Cicero thugs trying to keep people out of the democratic process. These shenanigans cost money and they know that these are grass roots folks without political money behind them.

Please consider donating to the group so they can fight this and get a fair shot on the ballot. This is so infuriating-- we need to get Cicero politics out of Berwyn.

Even a little will help!

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/wwitstartstrong

[Ted]

 
   I attended the hearing today for the objection of Frank Amaro against the candidacy of Elizabeth JImenez for the D100 school board. Amaro was represented by attorney Scott Erdman. There were two objections - the statement of candidacy form used did not have an address on it and the district named was "School District 100" rather than "South Berwyn School District 100". The hearing officer asked if each attorney wanted to hear the case immediately. Jimenez's attorney replied yes. Erdman replied no. Dates set were: Motion to Strike by 5 PM on Friday, January 9; Response to Motion to Strike by 5 PM on January 10; Reply to response to Motion to Strike by 5 PM on January 11; Actual hearing will be on Monday, January 12 at 10 AM.

[Ted]

 Correction to the above post:  It was the Statement of Economic Interest form that did not have an address, not the Statement of Candidacy.

 
   I attended the hearing today for the objection of Frank Amaro against the candidacy of Elizabeth JImenez for the D100 school board. Amaro was represented by attorney Scott Erdman. There were two objections - the statement of candidacy form Statement of Economic Interest form used did not have an address on it and the district named was "School District 100" rather than "South Berwyn School District 100". The hearing officer asked if each attorney wanted to hear the case immediately. Jimenez's attorney replied yes. Erdman replied no. Dates set were: Motion to Strike by 5 PM on Friday, January 9; Response to Motion to Strike by 5 PM on January 10; Reply to response to Motion to Strike by 5 PM on January 11; Actual hearing will be on Monday, January 12 at 10 AM.

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

 
   I attended the hearing today for the objection of Frank Amaro against the candidacy of Elizabeth JImenez for the D100 school board. Amaro was represented by attorney Scott Erdman. There were two objections - the statement of candidacy form used did not have an address on it and the district named was "School District 100" rather than "South Berwyn School District 100". The hearing officer asked if each attorney wanted to hear the case immediately. Jimenez's attorney replied yes. Erdman replied no. Dates set were: Motion to Strike by 5 PM on Friday, January 9; Response to Motion to Strike by 5 PM on January 10; Reply to response to Motion to Strike by 5 PM on January 11; Actual hearing will be on Monday, January 12 at 10 AM.

I am constantly amazed by the minutaie that will be used for objections to candidates for school boards in this area.  Perhaps the candidate wannabes should acquaint themselves better with the laws regarding candidacy or hire a really good lawyer to represent them.  This is Cook County after all.

[chandasz]

Since many who are running are doing this grass roots-- affording a lawyer makes that cost prohibitive. This is an attack on the democratic process by the Cicero thugs.

The root of the problems with our political system is the amount of money it takes to be a public servant. Ridiculous

[mustang54]

Since many who are running are doing this grass roots-- affording a lawyer makes that cost prohibitive. This is an attack on the democratic process by the Cicero thugs.

The root of the problems with our political system is the amount of money it takes to be a public servant. Ridiculous

Please enlighten us on your Cicero thugs conspiracy and tell us who these thugs are and how they are stopping the democratic process in Berwyn?

[Ted]

Since many who are running are doing this grass roots-- affording a lawyer makes that cost prohibitive. This is an attack on the democratic process by the Cicero thugs.

The root of the problems with our political system is the amount of money it takes to be a public servant. Ridiculous

  Chanda, the same thing happens in Berwyn.  Look at Frank Amaro's frivolous objection to the candidacy of Elizabeth Jimenez for the D100 school board election.

   The only way the information for that objection could have been obtained was via a FOIA request by a convicted felon named Ric Cervone from Melrose Park, who put down the address of the Del Galdo law firm as the address on the FOIA request.

  The DelGaldo law firm is now the law firm for D100, thanks to the votes of Bob Pauly, Jim Swicionis and JoAnne Zaworkski.  Why was DelGaldo's address on the only FOIA request that could have been used to inform the Amaro objection?

  How did that information get from Cervone/DelGaldo into the hands of Frank Amaro (or whoever put together the objection for Frank Amaro)?

  If anyone thinks Frank Amaro just did this on his own without any help from the powers-that-be then I have some swamp land in Arizona to sell you.

  It really bothers me that Jimenez had to hire a lawyer to contest this silly objection.  I can't help but wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that she used to work in District 100 as a teacher and has now left the district.  Other candidates could have had objections made against them yet Jimenez is the only candidate being objected to.

  It makes one wonder if her employment in D100 has something behind the objection.

[Ted]

 This is a summary of the hearing on the objections by Frank Amaro to the candidacy of Elizabeth Jimenez in the District 100 school board race. During the hearing, the hearing officer characterized Amaro's attorney's arguments as "meta-physical".

The presiding hearing officer was Terence Flynn. Attorney for Jimenez was Mallory Milluizy. Attorney for Amaro was Scott Erdman.

Amaro objected to the candidacy on 2 grounds - that the office on the Statement of Economic Interest stated "School District 100" rather than "South Berwyn School District 100" and that the Statement of Economic Interest did not have the candidate's address on it.

The hearing started by the hearing officer Flynn pointing out to Amaro's attorney that the attorney had put the wrong case number on his brief. Flynn allowed Amaro's attorney to continue even though Amaro's attorney had the wrong case number on his brief and filing. I guess school board candidates can get thrown off the ballot for technicalities but an objection cannot get thrown out for this type of technicality (wrong case number).


The Jimenez attorney Milluizy then started the arguments by stating that the office was sufficiently identified by "School District 100". The judge asked Amaro's attorney Erdman if there was more than one District 100 in Cook County and Erdman admitted there was only one school district 100 in Cook County.

On the issue of address, Milluizy pointed out that the form on the Cook County website does not contain a line for an address. The judge asked Erdman if he concurred that the form on the Cook County website did not contain a line for an address and Erdman agreed that the form did not contain a line for an address.

Erdman argued that that was irrelevant. Erdman stated that state law requires an address on the Statement of Economic Interest in order for the Statement of Economic Interest to be "substantially compliant" and that the Cook County Clerk posting an incomplete/incorrect form does not remove the burden of the candidate to comply with the law. Erdman stated that state law required the candidate's address and that it was up to the candidate to know what the state law was and comply with that law.

Milluizy argued that the candidate was compliant with election law because the main purpose of the Statement of Economic Interest was to identify economic associations and that the candidate complied with the law in that regard. Lack of an address did not negate the essential purpose or compliance with stating economic associations with government units. Erdman's response was essentially that the law is the law - the law required an address be specified and that no address was specified on the form that was filed.

Finally, Milluizy argued that even if the hearing officer found lack of compliance with the Statement of Economic Interest, that the remedy was not to remove the candidate from the ballot. She quoted case law that supported her position that removal from the ballot was not warranted even if the Statement of Economic Interest was not completely compliant.

Erdman responded that the lack of an address on the Statement of Economic Interest meant that no Statement of Economic Interest was filed and since no Statement of Economic Interest was filed, it warranted removal from the ballot. Milluizy responded that the candidate received a time stamped receipt from the Cook County Clerk's office that the candidate had filed a Statement of Economic Interest.

The hearing officer pointedly questioned Erdman on this argument. He asked whether any filed document was "not filed" if some part was incorrectly filled out. Erdman replied no. Erdman gave an example of where if there was a street address but no zip code, then the document would be considered "filed" but not having an address at all meant the document was "not filed".

Flynn, the hearing officer, characterized Erdman's argument as "meta-physical".

The hearing ended with the hearing officer Flynn stating he would email his report to each lawyer. No future hearing date was set and no verdict was made. The outcome is listed on the Cook County Clerk website as pending.

[mustang54]

  Ted your report is hysterical!! The County Clerks web site lists a form that does not meet state law. Candidates don't know how to properly fill out forms, and a lawyer puts a wrong case number on his paperwork. Hmmm, and its all over who will run an education district? Maybe the judge should throw them all off the ballot and out of his court and recommend the students run the place. They might be better at following directions and doing homework than the people who want to be in charge of their education.

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

  Ted your report is hysterical!! The County Clerks web site lists a form that does not meet state law. Candidates don't know how to properly fill out forms, and a lawyer puts a wrong case number on his paperwork. Hmmm, and its all over who will run an education district? Maybe the judge should throw them all off the ballot and out of his court and recommend the students run the place. They might be better at following directions and doing homework than the people who want to be in charge of their education.

Is this actually you, Mustang, calling the kettle black?  Considering your views on Morton School District 201 and support thereof, I am surprised to hear such hypocrisy.

[Ted]

OBJECTION OVERRULED - The Frank Amaro objection to the candidacy of Elizabeth O. Jiménez has been overruled by the Cook County Board of Elections, based on the information on the Cook County Clerk website. Elizabeth Jimenez will be on the ballot in the D100 school board election in April.

Amaro had objected to the Jimenez candidacy based on two points - that she had put "School District 100" rather than "South Berwyn School District 100" on her Statement of Economic Interest. Second point was that Jimenez did not have an address on the Statement of Economic Interest. There was no line for an address on the SEI form on the Cook County Clerk website.

During the hearing, the hearing officer Terence Flynn had characterized Frank Amaro's attorney's arguments as "meta-physical"

Here is the line on the Cook County Clerk website:

SD 54 SD 100, Board Member Elizabeth O. Jimenez (Non) Frank Amaro Objection Overruled Terence Flynn / 69 W. Washington, Pedway Room

http://www.cookcountyclerk.com/elections/electoralboard/Pages/default.aspx